


real, not real

by dyintherain



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, fake exes, side johnil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27342178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyintherain/pseuds/dyintherain
Summary: Doyoung and Yuta used to date, or at least they pretend they used to. It’s kind of a long story, but it all started with free takoyaki…
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 22
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! so this fic is actually ‘discontinued’ in a sense, because i have decided to turn this story into a twt au instead. the au starts 5 years after the events in this fic but will have a lot of flashbacks on what happened in between~ I hope you check it out :)
> 
> [link to the au](https://twitter.com/do0_yuu/status/1353031422907305984?s=21)

Yuta didn’t really believe in karma until he met Doyoung.

Well, he didn’t _not_ believe in it, either—as a philosophy major, he just felt like it’s his brand to suspend disbelief in everything. Or so he says in his Twitter bio, anyway.

But as he’s walking up the four flights of stairs to his apartment for the third time that day, carrying yet another of Doyoung’s boxes ( _seriously, did he pack a whole house or something?_ ), he can’t help but feel like this is all the lying and deception he’s done in the past year, coming back to bite him in the ass.

And for what, really?

He stops at the third landing, thinking hard about the last twelve months and what he got out of it all.

There’s a sudden oomph as he’s slightly thrown forward, feeling the edge of a box bump his back followed by Doyoung’s now familiar string of curses.

“What the hell, Yuta?” Doyoung spats at him, glaring. “This is not a good place to suddenly space out!”

Yuta turns and blinks at Doyoung as a flashback of the last year starts playing in reverse on his mind, unbidden, finally ending on that moment in the college cafeteria that started it all.

 _A budget meal_ , Yuta realizes.

A freaking campus budget meal - that’s the only thing he got out of this whole situation.

_...and maybe Doyoung._

He shakes his head to clear the thought. All this climbing up and down the stairs is clearly cutting off circulation to his brain.

“I—," Yuta turns to face Doyoung again, just as he rolls his eyes and pushes past him, walking up ahead.

“Hurry up, Takoyaki boy,” Doyoung calls to Yuta. “We’ve got three boxes left outside, and they’re not gonna move themselves.”

Yuta heaves a sigh, balancing the box in his arms.

 _Man_ , he really needs to start making better decisions.


	2. YUTA

_(One year ago)_

“Taeil, I’m starving.”

Yuta walks across Neo Park, the generous space of green in between his apartment complex and Pandora’s Box – a hub of admin offices, student clubs, and food stalls that pass for the college cafeteria.

“Sounds like a you problem,” his roommate answers on the phone.

“I know, and what’s mine is yours, right? Please buy me lunch,” Yuta begs, already imagining Taeil rolling his eyes on the other line.

It’s 1PM, a few hours before his first class of the day. His and Taeil’s actually, but his roommate has always been an early riser and is probably parked at his favorite spot in the library since 8:30.

“I still have ten pages to go through, but I’m going to head to Kitchen Beat right after,” Taeil says. “Meet me there?”

Yuta holds his phone in front of his growling stomach. “You hear that, hyung? I can’t last for ten pages more! And Kitchen Beat is _ugh_.”

“God, you’re the choosiest beggar I know.”

Yuta laughs. “Besides, I’m in the mood for takoyaki today. I’m at Pandora’s now, can’t you just finish your ten pages later?” He pushes the building door open, immediately getting hit with the smell of takoyaki from his favorite Japanese stall.

“I really can’t—,” Taeil starts to say, but Yuta doesn’t hear the rest as a boy thrusts a flyer into his face.

“Hi! We got a 2 for 1 special today for couples!”

“Hold on,” Yuta says to Taeil as he takes the flyer. “Two meals for the price of one, a special offer for couples,” he reads through the flyer. “Is it Valentine’s day again already?”

He could have sworn they just celebrated Jaehyun’s birthday a few months ago.

The flyer boy chuckles. He's a few inches shorter than Yuta, with brown curly hair peeking out from a beret nestled at the top of his head.

(Round cheeks? A fashion sense uncorrupted by the student body's usual shorts and slippers ensemble? _This one's a freshman, definitely._ )

“No! It's just like an end of sem celebration. The promo lasts for the whole day, but uhh…” the freshman starts to explain then falters, looking behind Yuta and probably realizing that he came alone. “I mean, they still serve singles! Just, you know, still at the regular price...”

Yuta narrows his eyes. “Is the sem not ending for singles, too...or?"

“Hello?” Yuta hears Taeil call from the phone before the freshman can answer.

“Wait,” Yuta says to Taeil then faces the flyer boy again. “You know what, never mind. I’ll just come back with my _boyfriend_.”

Yuta turns away from the freshman and back to his phone, but Taeil already hung up. _Ugh._ He texts him instead.

YUTA

taeil pls pleaaaase come here with me

that freshman basically said only couples have rights

TAEIL

Then don't eat there?

YUTA

but i want takoyaki!

and i want it free!

come on!!! then u won’t even have to treat me, u just pay for ur meal and i get a free one!!

TAEIL

Except we're not a couple?

Yuta sighs and looks up from his phone, almost dropping it when he sees the freshman still in front of him.

"Gah! Why are you still here?!"

"Why are _you_ still _here_? You're blocking the door," the freshman gestures behind Yuta. Yuta steps aside as the door opens and some students come in, the freshman walking over to greet them and hand out flyers.

Yuta rolls his eyes and turns to go, but the freshman calls out to him, "Boyfriend not available?"

"Oh, I'm just going to pick him up," Yuta replies, smiling a little too sweetly. The freshman just smirks and shrugs, as if he doesn't believe him.

Okay, _now_ Yuta's got a vendetta.

He calls Taeil as soon as he's out the door.

"Can you stop calling me? I'm gonna get kicked out of the library," Taeil says as he picks up.

"Taeil, am I or am I not your boyfriend?" Yuta asks, pacing outside Pandora's entrance.

" _My_ boyfriend is literally sitting next to me right now," Taeil says, followed by a faint "hi, Yuta" from the other line.

"Ugh, hi Johnny," Yuta greets his roommate's boyfriend. "Ten pages your ass, Taeil."

He hears laughter, then Taeil's "Okay, I really have to go."

"Wait! I'm serious, please come with me. I wanna wipe that judgy freshman boy's smirk off his face."

"Then you're just buying into their crap couples-only promo."

"Taeil, I usually love it when you're logical but not right now. Plus, think of it as me scamming the system."

Taeil laughs, "The _system_ , seriously?"

"Why don't you just get a random guy and pretend or something," Yuta hears Johnny say, followed by Taeil’s "Oh god, don't enable him."

Yuta points an index finger up in the air. “Hah! Johnny, I always knew you're the genius of the relationship," he exclaims, just as he spots a familiar guy walking towards Pandora's.

Huh, that's a face he hasn't seen in a while.

Yuta smirks, the beginning of an idea already forming in his mind. Well, _Johnny_ ’s idea, really, but he can’t believe the universe is giving him the means to execute it this easily.

"Wait-" Taeil says.

"Bye, guys.”

"Don't actually do it!"

But Yuta’s already hanging up and pocketing his phone.

He nods at the guy walking towards his direction, then smiles at him as he approaches the door. “Hey! Doyoung, right?”


	3. DOYOUNG

Doyoung remembers Yuta Nakamoto from his psychology elective three semesters ago. And if his memory serves him right, they’ve only ever spoken twice.

One, when they’ve been partnered together for an activity the first day of class. And two, when Doyoung yelled at him for spilling coffee all over his final paper.

He never imagined he’d see him, much less talk to him, ever again after that.

Yet, here he is.

“I’m sorry, what?” Doyoung crosses his arms and looks incredulously at Yuta, who sighs and starts to explain again. Doyoung cuts him off, “No, I got _that_ —”.

“But you just said, _‘I’m sorry, what?’_ ” Yuta mimics his crossed arms.

“I _mean_ ,” Doyoung says, uncrossing his own, “why would… _why_?”

Doyoung was having a fine day so far. His only class for the day was cancelled, so he was free to wake up at noon (much later, even, if he wasn’t woken up by his stomach growling). But then he stepped out of his dorm to get lunch at Pandora’s and stumbled upon his old classmate. Well, more like _got cornered_.

“ _Because_ ,” Yuta emphasizes, “you’ll be paying for a full meal anyway, so why not just take me along so I get a free one?”

“Well when you say it like _that_ , it sounds logical.”

“Right?” Yuta smiles and nods his head.

Doyoung narrows his eyes, “I was being sarcastic.” He tries to move towards the entrance but Yuta blocks his way.

“I know, I’m countering your sarcasm with open-hearted innocence.”

“What?”

Yuta smiles again. “Exactly.”

Doyoung throws his head back and groans. “Oh my god.” He finally gets to the door and pushes it open, but Yuta follows him before he can even slam it in his face.

“Where’s that freshman?” He hears Yuta mutter under his breath while looking around at the crowded hall. Doyoung ignores him and surveys the food stalls instead—the Japanese one at the corner seems to have the shortest line, so he heads straight for it.

Not even a minute later and he hears Yuta’s voice behind him. “This is perfect!”

“Stop following me,” Doyoung turns around, half-glaring, but Yuta is unfazed as he picks up a tray. “Come on! I’m craving for takoyaki, and you’re here in line at the Japanese stall,” Yuta throws his arms wide, “I mean, is this destiny or what?”

Doyoung pinches the bridge of his nose. “Am I being pranked? Is this one of those social experiments?” Yuta has the nerve to look at him weirdly. As if _Doyoung_ is the one acting weird in this situation.

“I mean, I _could_ write a paper about this for my SocSci class,” Yuta shrugs.

Doyoung casts his eyes upward. Every word that comes out of Yuta’s mouth makes less and less sense. He’s still a bit groggy from waking up late in the day that he briefly considers whether he’s still dreaming, or somehow got switched with an alternate universe version of himself.

He turns to face Yuta. “Let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend so that you can avail the couple’s promo,” he says, gesturing at the flyer that Yuta holds in his hand.

Yuta puts a finger on his lips. “Not so loud!” he whisper-shouts, eyes darting around the other students standing in line (who are all completely ignoring them, anyway). Doyoung rolls his eyes, “If—and I mean _if_ —I agree to this, then why should I still pay for a full meal? Shouldn’t we split it?”

Doyoung can’t believe that he’s actually considering the _logistics_ of Yuta’s stupid ‘proposition’ (that’s what he calls it), but it’s something that’s been bugging him since Yuta cornered him by Pandora’s entrance a few minutes ago.

“I don’t have money,” Yuta says plainly.

Doyoung stares at him, brows furrowed. “That sounds like a you problem.”

“Oh my god, you’re quoting Taeil.”

“Who the fuck is Taeil?” But Yuta just waves him off and gestures for him to step forward as the line in front of them moves. Doyoung faces the stall again, a little dazed. Talking to Yuta is like the least fun out of context guessing game ever.

A minute passes in silence (or at least, in the busy background chatter of the place) that Doyoung starts to think Yuta might have actually left. He turns his head to check—only to be faced with Yuta’s full-force grin.

“Doyoung, you know you want to.” Yuta quirks his eyebrows at him, shaking his tray that’s held out in front of him like a shield. He says Doyoung’s name so casually and with such familiarity, like they’re old friends and not semi-strangers. Against his better judgment, Doyoung laughs.

“Are you really serious?”

Yuta points at his own face. “Do I look like a guy who likes to kid around?”

Doyoung looks at him for a beat. “Honestly, yeah.”

Yuta laughs. “Okay, yeah. But I’m actually serious.” He tries to school his face into a neutral expression, but Doyoung thinks it just makes him look constipated. “Yeah, _that_ helps your case,” Doyoung snorts. Yuta grins at him again and says, “I’m kidding, this is my actual serious face.” And then he _does_ school his face into a true neutral expression and stares intently into Doyoung’s eyes.

 _Whoa, there_.

Doyoung blinks, then pivots his body to face forward again.

Yuta taps his shoulder, “Come _onnn_.”

“I don’t even know you, Yuta,” Doyoung says, without turning around this time.

“You literally just _uttered_ my name.”

Doyoung bites his lip to keep himself from smiling ( _who says ‘uttered’?)_ , then inclines his head back. “I _meant_ , I don’t know you _that well_ to pretend to be your boyfriend.”

Yuta scoffs, “It’s not like I’m taking you to my family to fulfill my grandfather’s dying wish or whatever.”

Doyoung raises an eyebrow.

“He’s still healthy and kicking, but if ever…” Yuta continues, and Doyoung rolls his eyes, but his lips are turned up just slightly at the corner.

“I’m kidding!”

The line moves again—there are only two people left in front of Doyoung now.

“How would it even work? What if they ask us to—” He catches himself at the last minute, but Yuta is already smiling. “Doyoung, I don’t think they’d ask students to do _that_ within school grounds.”

Doyoung’s mouth drops open. “I was going to say _kiss_!”

Yuta mock-widens his eyes. “That’s what I meant too. Why, what were you thinking?” Doyoung shakes his head, giggling ( _giggling_?!). “Shut up.”

Doyoung half-turns to look at Yuta again. “You’re not gonna leave me alone, are you?”

Yuta pretends to think about it. “Hmm, not today, no.” Doyoung groans, but he knows it’s only half-meant this time.

“Let me see that flyer.”

☁️

“I can’t believe it worked,” Yuta exclaims with an almost maniacal glee in his eyes. He puts down his tray of takoyaki and a sukiyaki bowl at the table and starts to sit, but stops when he sees Doyoung looking at him.

“What? Don’t give me that look! Don’t you know how it’s like to be broke?”

“Not really,” Doyoung replies then takes a seat at the opposite side.

In truth, Doyoung can’t believe it worked either. All they had to do was say they’re a couple and that’s it. He kind of expected that they’ll be asked to… well, kiss or whatever to prove their so-called relationship. That’s what happens in movies, right?

If he’s being honest, this is all turning out to be so anticlimactic.

“Oh god, it’s that freshman again,” Doyoung hears Yuta suddenly whisper under his breath, jolting him out of his thoughts.

He turns to what Yuta is looking at, and sees— _uhm, what the fuck_ —Hyuck (?!) skipping over to their table.

“Hey, you came back!” Donghyuck greets Yuta.

Yuta gives him a close-lipped smile. “Why yes, I did. With—,” he starts to say, gesturing across the table. Doyoung’s eyes widen as he starts shaking his head, signaling Yuta to cut it out, but... “—my _boyfriend_.”

 _Oh no, this is_ not _happening._

Yuta moves to take Doyoung's hand across the table, but he reflexively pulls away. "Uhm," Yuta laughs awkwardly. "We're fighting," he says meekly to Donghyuck, then half-glares at Doyoung.

Doyoung full-on glares back, just as Donghyuck turns to finally look at him. “Wha—hyung?!”

“Ohh,” Yuta looks back and forth at the two of them. “You know each other,” he says, more a statement than a question.

“Donghyuck’s my cousin,” Doyoung explains through a clenched smile.

“Huh, that makes a weird kind of sense,” he hears Yuta mutter.

Doyoung ignores this as his attention is caught by the flyer lying discarded near Yuta’s tray. He inwardly facepalms himself. How could he have missed that tiny logo on the corner? He should’ve realized that this little couples' promo is organized by none other than his cousin and his little Umpah Umpah club. (The actual name of which is actually a more serious-sounding acronym with an even more serious-sounding meaning, but the whole campus started calling them that instead, ever since the club’s riveting dance cover of Red Velvet’s song back in Doyoung’s freshman year.)

“Oh my god, you have a boyfriend?” Donghyuck gushes, eyes gleaming. To the untrained eye, he just looks like a dongsaeng giddy at learning about his hyung's 'relationship'. But Doyoung can already imagine all the teasing he's going to get from him at the next family dinner, and his mom... _oh god_ , Donghyuck’s going to tell his mom.

Doyoung's about to open his mouth to explain, when—did Yuta just _fucking kick his shin_?!

“ _Riiight_ , Hyuck!" Yuta exclaims. "I’ve heard so much about yo— _ow_!" Doyoung kicks him back, but Yuta just smiles and extends a hand to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, reluctantly taking Yuta’s hand. "You have?”

Doyoung rolls his eyes. “All bad things, I assure you,” he can’t help but quip. When it comes to his cousin, his mouth is like hardwired for childish responses.

Donghyuck makes a face at him but turns back smiling to Yuta. “Well, this is exciting! I’ll just get my camera and the materials for your couple test!”

“The couple what now?” Yuta asks but Donghyuck is already running towards the back of the cafeteria.

“Ugh,” Doyoung slumps at his seat. “I knew it was too easy.”

Yuta’s mouth drops, catching on. “What, you think they’re really gonna test us to see if we’re a real couple?”

“ _You_ really thought Umpah Umpah will give away free meals just like that?” Doyoung asks him back, even though he himself was willing to believe it just a few moments ago. But ugh, _he so_ knew _it._ “Look,” he straightens in his seat and looks at Yuta, “this is ridiculous. I can’t lie to my cousin.”

“Wait, Umpah Umpah? I appreciate your family values, but we can’t back out now,” Yuta groans.

“It’s not _that_. Hyuck is a little devil, and I don’t want him holding this over my head. Let’s just come clean, I’ll pay for your meal if it shuts you up.”

Yuta gestures at his takoyaki, “Firstly, you kind of already paid for my meal.” Doyoung opens his mouth to reply, but Yuta puts a hand up. “ _And_ thanks for that! But _secondly,_ wouldn’t it be worse if your cousin finds out that you lied just to get a free meal?”

Doyoung crosses his arms at the table. “That was just you.”

“You’re the one who ordered,” Yuta retorts, one eyebrow raised. Doyoung runs his hand through his face.

“Also…” Yuta says, uncharacteristically meek, that Doyoung uncovers his face and looks at him. “You said your cousin’s from Umpah Umpah? They’re the campus do-goodies.”

“Sure they are,” Doyoung scoffs. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, I wanna join that club. And if they find out we— _I_ lied just to get a free meal, there’s no way I’d ever get in.”

Doyoung can’t help but laugh at that. “What?! Why do you even want to—what?” He always thought Donghyuck‘s little club (even before Donghyuck actually joined it when he started uni this year) is a bit on the ridiculous side. He doesn’t actually know what they’re for, exactly. And ‘campus do-goodies’? _Please_. As far as Doyoung knows, they just organize useless events throughout the school year. Like this stupid end-of-sem couples promo—which, now that Doyoung thinks about it: how the hell did _this_ get approved by the student affairs office?

Yuta leans back on his chair. “The thing is, I kind of need their help with my thesis.”

“Ah, there it is. And here I thought you wanted to do _good_ for the school or whatever.”

Yuta rolls his eyes. “I’m writing and staging a play, but I can’t get any actors from the theater dept since I’m not a comm arts major. Umpah Umpah helps their members with this sort of thing all the time. If I get in, I’d have a whole club of actors.”

Doyoung’s brows scrunch up. “You’re majoring in Philosophy, why are you writing a play?” he asks.

“You remember!” Yuta points at him, and Doyoung rolls his eyes. “Wasn’t hard to, considering you were constantly spouting non-sense during class discussions back then.”

Yuta ignores this. “Well, it’s a long story. But, please? We’ve gotten this far,” he says, gesturing at the table with their trays of ill-begotten budget meals. Doyoung sighs, “I don’t know…”

“Spare yourself the contemplation, Doyoung.”

There it is, again. Just casually dropping his name like that. Doyoung’s starting to think that it’s some sort of subtle technique used to convince other people. If it’s not, then it should be in the textbooks. Because Yuta saying his name like that is weirdly making him very compliant.

“We both know you’ll end up helping me, anyway. You’re an ISFJ,” Yuta explains, as if those string of letters are supposed to mean anything to Doyoung.

_Wait…_

“Is _that_ my personality?” Doyoung asks.

Yuta gives him a “duh” look.

It’s coming back to Doyoung now—the first day of class activity that they were partnered up for. They spent the whole period answering this personality test (yeah, he didn’t know why you’d need a partner for _that_ either) and— “I can’t believe you remember that.”

Yuta slurps from his sukiyaki bowl then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before answering Doyoung. “I remember your MBTI, you remember my major. We know a lot about each other! These couple tests are usually about how well the couple know each other, right? We are _so_ going to ace this.”

Doyoung can’t tell if he’s kidding.

“That personality test activity bonded us for life Doyoung,” Yuta continues, “we’re practically besties.”

Doyoung snorts at that.

“Look, he’s coming back,” Yuta says, pointing. Doyoung turns around, arms hooked over his chair, and sure enough sees his cousin once again skipping towards their table. “Will you _please_ for the love of my thesis, be my fake boyfriend?”

Doyoung faces Yuta. “So. You don’t want Umpah Umpah to find out you lied, so _instead_ you’re gonna lie even more?” he asks, just because he feels like he at least needs to bring it up.

Yuta points at him. “Exactly. Now you’re getting it.”

 _Not really_ , Doyoung thinks, but he sighs just the same.

“ _Fine_ , but we’re breaking up in one week.”

☁️

“Come _on_ , don’t you have harder questions?” Yuta whines at Donghyuck.

Doyoung just stares at him. It’s like Yuta wants to fail this or something. One correct answer (‘What’s Doyoung’s favorite color?’ _Well,_ he has _blue_ highlights in his hair for god’s sake) and he’s getting cocky. _But anyway, what kind of a ‘couple’s question’ is that?_

At least someone finds this amusing—Donghyuck stands grinning behind the camera, propped up on a tripod in the middle of the aisle. Apparently, they’ll create a montage of this little event with videos of participating students doing the couple test.

Such a nice way to spend the school’s resources. _Not._

“Okay, then. Next question for Doyoung-hyung… what’s Yuta’s favorite place on campus?” Donghyuck asks then taps the countdown timer button on his phone.

Doyoung bites his lip, his marker poised over the whiteboard.

The thing is, he actually knows the answer to this one. Well, he just remembered it earlier, when he and Yuta were talking about the personality test they did in class. It’s one of the things they covered during the small talk in between being partnered up and waiting for the activity instructions from the TA. But will Yuta remember that he told Doyoung? And if he _does_ , will he even expect Doyoung to remember it after all this time?

And is it weird that Doyoung suddenly still remembers that little piece of information?

He tries to catch Yuta’s eye across the table but his head is bent over as he writes his own answer. _Fuck it_ , he thinks. Yuta seems to have a pretty good memory, anyway.

“5.. 4.. 3..”

Doyoung quickly scrawls the answer on the whiteboard, just as Hyuck calls “Time’s up!”

Yuta reveals his own whiteboard and Doyoung’s face falls. Maybe he remembered wrongly?

 _Limitless fountain_ , it says in Yuta’s neat handwriting. As cliché a campus spot as any— _damn,_ Doyoung should have gone with that.

But underneath it... “Third bench to the right, back of Humanities building,” Doyoung reads aloud as Yuta looks at him in wonder. “How did you know that!”

Donghyuck’ brows raise at this, but Yuta quickly backtracks. “I mean... of course you do, you’re the love of my life.”

Doyoung chokes out a laugh.

“I feel like that shouldn’t count,” Donghyuck says, pouting. “You can’t write two answers.”

Yuta points at his and Doyoung’s white board back and forth. “But aren’t you testing how well we know each other? See how specific that answer is?”

“Fine,” Donghyuck relents. “Okay, well. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Yuta echoes. Doyoung kicks him under the table. Yuta gives him a _what the hell?_ look and Doyoung stares back with a sharp _do you want to get this over with or not?_ At least, he hopes it looked that way—somehow, he feels it’s more like Yuta’s constipated look from earlier.

“It’s a 2-minute video, I’m not gonna ask every couple 20 questions,” Donghyuck explains, looking over his notes. “Oh wait, can I get a kiss for the video?”

They both snap out of their staring contest—Doyoung instantly feels his cheeks burn while Yuta coughs awkwardly.

Well. Doyoung _did_ expect this, didn’t he? He can feel Yuta looking at him, probably urging him to just go with it, but Doyoung avoids his gaze. Is he really the kind of person to kiss a stranger… _err,_ a semi-stranger who at least knows his personality type _and_ favorite color, just for the hell of it? Doyoung doesn’t think so.

 _Then again_ , he didn’t think he’d be the type of person to go along with a fake boyfriend act either—just for something as silly as a free meal ( _and_ a budget meal at that).

You never know until you try, or something like that.

He raises his head and finds Yuta raising one eyebrow at him, the corner of his mouth turned up a little. To Doyoung’s surprise, he doesn’t actually look like he’s urging him to just go with it—or do anything, really. He looks… questioning. Like it’s up to Doyoung whether he wants to do this or not. Well, at least that’s what Doyoung got out of his expression. For all he knows, the look may mean “I’m gonna make your life hell if you don’t help me with this” in Yuta’s non-verbal vocabulary.

“Hel- _lo_ ,” Donghyuck snaps a finger between their faces.

Doyoung clears his throat. Yuta looks at him, then tentatively reaches out across the table, placing a hand on Doyoung's shoulder. He would have slapped it away out of reflex if he wasn’t instantly frozen in his seat the moment he felt Yuta’s hand. In his peripheral view, Doyoung can make out the blinking red light in Donghyuck‘s camera, recording the whole thing.

Yuta half-stands from his seat, face coming dangerously nearer to Doyoung’s.

“Oh god, never mind!” The two of them snap apart at Donghyuck‘s voice. Yuta drops back to his chair so suddenly that he bounces a little, but if he’s even a bit fazed, he doesn’t show it. “That’s actually kinda gross,” Donghyuck fake-gags, looking at Doyoung.

“H-hey!” Yuta interjects.

“I mean,” Donghyuck puts his hands up, “more power to you or whatever. But I just realized I don’t wanna see Doyoung-hyung swapping spit with you in our video,” he turns to Yuta, “no offense.”

“ _You’re_ gross,” Doyoung manages to say, trying to hide how the almost-kiss made him a little breathless. He doesn’t know if he wants to hit or hug his cousin right now. Maybe both, at the same time. Donghyuck just sticks out his tongue at him before he collects the whiteboards and tripod.

“Ta-ta! Enjoy your meal or whatever.”

Doyoung watches him go, quietly catching his breath, then slumps forward at the table. “ _Ohmygorr_ ,” he murmurs, voice muffled by his hand covering his face. He hears quiet laughter, so he looks up and sees Yuta, back to his meal like nothing happened. Yuta smiles at him (or tries to, anyway) with his mouth full.

Doyoung grunts. “ _That_ fucking takoyaki better be worth the most awkward five minutes of my life.”

“Oh,” Yuta smirks at him. “You bet it is.”


	4. YUTA

It was just supposed to be a one-time thing.

A simple lunch to take advantage of a well-meaning campus club’s little promo. Like a one-night stand, but with food.

(Okay, that sounded wrong.)

But really, the last thing Yuta expected to see a few months later at the beginning of his senior year’s first semester is Kim Doyoung—casually leaning against one of the entrance pillars in Yuta’s humanities building, head down and nodding rhythmically as his fingers drum against his thigh to a beat Yuta can’t hear.

Yuta stops in his tracks, staring. Doyoung is wearing round, silver-framed spectacles that he didn’t have the last time they saw each other, and his hair is fully black now, blue highlights all gone. Yuta hadn’t considered this last sem when he was all caught up in trying to get his free takoyaki, but— _damn,_ his fake ex-boyfriend is actually pretty cute.

Yuta walks over to him. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be broken up by now?”

Doyoung jolts, but then smiles a little when he sees Yuta. “Takoyaki boy! What are you doing here?”

 _Oh-kay_ , they’re doing nicknames now?

“Well, I practically live here,” Yuta gestures around the building, “This is where all my classes are this sem.” He turns back to Doyoung, “What are _you_ doing here? As far as I know, there are no computer labs this side of campus.” At Doyoung’s look of surprise, he adds, “You’re not the only one with a good memory.”

Doyoung smiles, shaking his head. “I’m just waiting for someone.”

Yuta stares at him curiously. Something seems different with Doyoung. Granted, he’d only ever really seen him about three times before today (if you don’t count the whole semester’s worth of view he had of the back of Doyoung’s head from his preferred seat in the last row of their psych class).

He must have been staring for quite a while because Doyoung gets right up in his face, eyes crinkling. “What is it?”

Yuta jerks back, pointing at Doyoung. “Ah! You’re all… _smiley_.”

Doyoung laughs. “Wha—what’s wrong with smiling?”

“I didn’t know you were capable,” Yuta explains.

Doyoung raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. 

Yuta points at him again, “Now _that’s_ more like the Doyoung I know.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, but his mouth is still quirked up at the corner. “I remember smiling at you the first day of class!”

Yuta thinks about this. “I guess…” he says, drawing out the word. “But I mostly remember you glaring and grunting at me when we had that lunch last sem.” Doyoung grins and Yuta’s got to admit—it’s quite endearing _and_ unnerving at the same time.

“Now that I think about it, you _do_ seem to always catch me when I’m in a mood,” Doyoung explains with a laugh then holds up a finger. “I mean, our psych class was at freaking 7 in the morning so I was still mostly groggy that first day,” he holds up another one as he counts through the few interactions they had, “and you can’t expect me to grin at you when my final paper was soaking wet from your iced macchiato.” Yuta cringes. “And _last sem_ ,” Doyoung continues, “I was hungry AF and you came out of nowhere asking me to pretend to be your boyfriend and pay for your lunch.” He shrugs, putting his hand down.

“Huh,” Yuta replies, but before he can say anything more, Doyoung is suddenly leaning away from the pillar and standing straight, his eyes caught by something— _someone—_ to their right.

Doyoung’s face lights up and his smile grows so wide, Yuta can’t help but follow his gaze.

Is that… _Jaehyun?_

Huh, interesting.

“Doie!” Jaehyun exclaims as he walks up to where they’re standing, arms already outstretched. Doyoung meets him halfway for a hug.

_Doie?_

Jaehyun notices Yuta over Doyoung’s shoulder and pulls away. “Yuta?”

“Hey, Jae,” Yuta grins, going for a fist-bump.

Doyoung looks at the two of them then rests one hand on Jaehyun’s arm. _Really interesting_. “You know Yuta?”

Jaehyun nods, “Yeah, we work together on the lit club. Wait, how do _you_ know him?”

Doyoung’s mouth opens as he turns to Yuta, but before he can reply, someone tackles the two of them from behind. They stumble slightly, and Jaehyun doesn’t miss a beat as he catches Doyoung’s arms, leaving Yuta to brace against the pillar for his own balance.

Doyoung turns, snarling. Yuta almost laughs at how quickly the smile was wiped off his face. “What the _f_ —Hyuck?” Doyoung’s reddened cheeks suddenly turn pale. Yuta turns as well, seeing the little freshman (sophomore _now,_ he reckons) grinning wide at them. “Fancy seeing my favorite couple!”

Doyoung’s eyes widen as his head quickly snaps to look at Jaehyun. Donghyuck follows the look and says, “Oh, and Jaehyun-hyung.”

Jaehyun blinks, muttering “Couple?”, but Donghyuck is oblivious as he reaches up to put his arms around Yuta and Doyoung. “I was _just_ looking for you two! Didn’t you get my texts, Doyoung-hyung?” he asks, but continues talking before Doyoung can even reply, “Anyway, I’m taking a Gender and Sexuality elective this sem, and I was _wondering_ if my favorite cousin,” he looks up, doe-eyed, at Doyoung, “and his _dashing_ boyfriend, can be participants in my final project.”

He untangles his arms from their shoulders and brings it together for a pleading gesture. “ _Plith?_ ”

Doyoung stands frozen, mouth open slightly.

Jaehyun’s brows are furrowed, eyes darting around the three of them.

And Yuta… well, Yuta manages to say, “The sem is literally just starting.”

Donghyuck sighs. “I know, but I wanna get cracking on it early so I don’t have to juggle it along with my core classes.”

Yuta nods, “Oh, cool.”

 _“Well?”_ Donghyuck tilts his head, considering them. “Wait…” he looks at each of them in turn. “What’s going on here?”

Jaehyun clears his throat. “Uhm… am I… are you… _am I_ missing something?” This seems to jolt Doyoung back to life. He takes a deep breath and laughs awkwardly.

“ _Oh,_ you didn’t know too?” Donghyuck pipes up, looking at Jaehyun. “I thought Doyoung-hyung just doesn’t tell me anything.”

Jaehyun bites his tongue then turns back to Yuta and Doyoung. “So, you two are really dating?”

Doyoung laughs again. Well, _tries to_ , but it just comes off as a monosyllabic “ha”. “The thing is… uhh…” He looks at Yuta.

“Oh, uhh…” Yuta contributes and tries to laugh, too. He doesn’t know what _exactly_ is going on, but from what he can gather from their expressions, Doyoung and Jaehyun are a… thing, somehow. And Yuta is suddenly caught in the middle of it. “Well, this is kinda awkward…”

“Um,” Doyoung says with a bit more force, as if finally having decided something. Yuta holds his breath, waiting for what he’s going to say.

Doyoung sighs deeply, then grimaces at Donghyuck. “The thing is, we can’t help you with your project…” Donghyuck is about to protest but Doyoung continues, “…because Yuta and I already broke up.”

☁️

“Can we talk?”

Yuta almost slips down the stairs on the way out of his building after his last class of the day when he hears Doyoung’s voice behind him. “God! What are you doing here?!” he exclaims as he puts a hand to his chest.

“I just need to talk to you about yesterday,” Doyoung explains, lips pursed as he follows Yuta down the stairs.

Yuta stops and faces him as they reach the landing. “What’s there to talk about?" He chuckles to himself as he realizes how that sounds. "I mean, not in a dramatic way but like, seriously, what do we have to talk about?”

Doyoung bites his lip, his expression such a stark contrast from yesterday when Yuta saw him by the pillar, when he was all bright teeth and flushed cheeks. Today, he looks… worried. “I just want to make sure our stories are straight,” he finally answers Yuta with a sigh.

Yuta has to laugh at that. “What?”

Another class lets out from the floor above, and soon the staircase is flooded with students rushing to get out of the building. Yuta puts a hand on Doyoung’s arm to keep them both steady as they get jostled to the corner by the crowd, but immediately pulls away when he sees Doyoung flinch.

“Sorry.”

“Oh, no no! _I’m_ sorry. It’s just… Jaehyun might… see.”

Yuta nods. “Right…”

Okay. So, maybe yesterday, before Jaehyun and Donghyuck showed up and they were talking and laughing and Doyoung was flashing his gummy smile at him— _maybe_ Yuta had the tiniest bit of a crush. Can you blame him? Doyoung was practically _glowing_. Of course, that tiny spark immediately fizzled out when he realized there was a reason to that glow. In the form of no other than his own friend Jung Jaehyun.

“I think you’re making this more complicated than it really is. I mean, it’s kind of weird how you spinned it, but Jae and your cousin seemed to buy the story anyway, so…”

Doyoung groans. “Well, I panicked! I didn’t want to deny it because then Hyuck would know we lied, and well… you still need the club, right?”

Yuta starts to nod, then shakes his head. “Yeah—no, I mean. _Yes_ , I still do but… you did that for me?”

Doyoung shrugs.

“Wow, thanks I guess.”

“But,” Doyoung continues, “I also didn’t want to pretend we’re _currently_ dating in front of Jaehyun so… it was the only thing I could think of.”

Yuta smirks. “So, you and Jaehyun, huh?”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, but there’s a telltale blush creeping up his cheeks. “It’s not…”

Yuta cuts him off, “Doyoung, it’s fine with me.” He starts going down the stairs again, the crowd thinning out, but Doyoung overtakes and jumps on the step below him. “You don’t understand, I don’t care about _you_ —”

“Ouch,” Yuta exclaims, mock-clutching at his chest.

Doyoung laughs a little, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just…” he sighs, “You both work at the literature club so you must spend a lot of time with Jaehyun. I just want to make sure that…” he looks down, fiddling with his fingers. “That, when I come up in your conversation—”

Yuta chuckles. “You don’t have to worry about that. Jae and I have been on the club together since freshman year and not once did he ever mention you.”

Doyoung’s head snaps up. “Oh.”

Yuta’s eyes widen as he catches himself. _Oops._ That was maybe not the right thing to say.

Doyoung stares at the ground again, and for a moment Yuta’s scared that he might actually start to… _cry_ , or something, but when he looks up, he just fixes Yuta with a stern look. “Yuta, I’m just asking you one favor. You owe me for that takoyaki.”

Yuta gasps. “That was _one_ budget meal! This is… I don’t even know what you want from me.”

“I told you, I just want to get our stories straight.” Doyoung stares at him, face completely serious.

Damn, if he’d only known that moment of weakness for free takoyaki is going to haunt him like this. He can just imagine Taeil laughing at him and saying “I told you so.” In his defense, he was really hungry and he didn’t think the fake boyfriend he picked would come with a baggage.

“Fine,” Yuta sighs.

Doyoung nods once. “Thank you.”

He turns around then walks ahead, and Yuta has no choice but to follow.

☁️

Doyoung takes him to the Square, a complex just outside campus filled with bars and small restaurants. And concrete benches that are literally a pain in the ass. “I thought you were gonna take me to eat,” Yuta complains as he sits down on one.

“I am not treating you to a meal ever again.” Doyoung dusts down the spot next to Yuta before taking a seat.

“You led me here to the Square just to sit on the flipping benches? There’s like, a hundred of these on campus.”

Doyoung shrugs. “Jaehyun never goes here, so I figured it’s a safe place to talk.” Yuta stares at him, amused at how Doyoung is acting about the whole thing. _A safe place to talk_? What, are they dealing with the mafia or something? But he stops smiling when he sees Doyoung’s downcast expression.

“Look,” Yuta starts, “if I’d known about you and Jae, I never would’ve asked you to be my pretend-boyfriend.”

Doyoung laughs with no humor. “Right, but you couldn’t have known, ‘cause he never once mentioned me.”

Yuta stammers. “W-well, it’s not like we’re _that_ close. We really just talk about... literature, most of the time,” he lamely explains.

“Ugh, don’t try to make me feel better,” Doyoung groans. “It’s not like Jaehyun and I were ever... together, or anything like that. We’re just really good friends.”

 _Oh_. “Oh?”

“We’ve known each other since freshman year. Well,” Doyoung rubs the back of his neck, “the same amount of time you’ve known him, I guess. He’s my dorm neighbor. We both moved in earlier than most so for a while before classes started, we were the only ones in the whole floor, and—”

“Oh god, spare me the details.”

Doyoung gasps and looks at him. “I’m not…we didn’t—oh my _god,_ why do you think like that?”

Yuta laughs and puts his hands up, “Like what? I just meant, spare me the details of your _friendship history_.” Doyoung glares at him for a moment, but there’s no real heat to it. After a few seconds, he ends up laughing too. “God, _every_ conversation with you…” Doyoung says, shaking his head.

“What?” Yuta asks, but Doyoung waves him away. “Never mind.”

“So, you like each other?” Yuta asks.

Doyoung flinches, “Well, _I_ like _him_.”

“Oh, _wow…_ unrequited. Original.”

Doyoung narrows his eyes at him. “You’re one to talk, mister I-need-a-fake-boyfriend-so-I-can-get-free-takoyaki.”

Yuta just shrugs. “At least I’m only pining for _food._ ”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “ _Anyway_ , last night at the dorm, we ran into each other in the hall and…”

Yuta covers his ears with his hands, “Doyoung! I told you to spare me the details.”

Doyoung stares at him. “That already stopped being funny.” Yuta bites his lip to keep from laughing and mimes zipping his mouth closed.

Doyoung makes a face at him and continues, “Well, we ended up hanging out in the common area, and… we got to talking about you. Err, _us_.” Yuta raises an eyebrow at this while Doyoung shrugs. “I guess he was just curious that two of his friends got together without him knowing, you know? And well… I kind of got carried away and started telling stories.”

“Stories?” Yuta clarifies, not sure if he should be nervous.

“Like, the story of how we met. I told him about the psych elective, which is true enough”—Yuta nods— “and how you kind of always had a crush on me ever since then,” Doyoung finishes.

Yuta bursts out laughing.

“Well, I wanted to make myself look good!” Doyoung protests.

“Whatever you say,” Yuta says, still laughing, then gestures for him to go on.

“And _then_ , I told him we finally got together around the end of last sem. So that whole lunch thing was maybe a week into our relationship. We lasted the whole summer, but we broke up just before classes started again this fall.” Doyoung stares at him uncertainly, biting his thumb.

“Wow,” Yuta finally manages to reply. “You’re quite the storyteller. We could use you on the lit club.”

Doyoung throws his head back. “Ugh, I don’t know why I said all that! I was just carried away… Jaehyun and I haven’t talked that much in a long time, you know? I just wanted to keep the conversation going.” He sighs, “but now that… well, what’s done is done. I just want to make sure that he doesn’t find out I lied.”

Yuta breathes out a laugh, bending so his elbows are resting on his knees. “I honestly don’t know what to say. This is all so wild.” He looks up at Doyoung, who’s looking back at him with brows scrunched up and mouth in a thin line.

“Well, you guys are close, right?” Yuta says, feeling like he needs to say something comforting. “Maybe just tell him the truth? That you were just helping me because I wanted to join Hyuck’s club. He’ll understand.”

“That’s the thing, though. I could have said _that_ and you’re right, he _would_ understand. But I had to go and make up this whole fake relationship story.” Doyoung stares at the sky. “I don’t want to have to explain why I did that.”

“Why did you?” Yuta asks.

Doyoung shakes his head a little. “I... Maybe I wanted to make him a little… jealous. I don’t know, I just… I have this stupid narrative in my head, that…” He blows out a huge breath, “You know how in movies when two friends are so in love with each other and everyone else knows it except for the two of them?”

“Sure.”

“And how it takes another person, a third party, to get into the picture before one of them realizes his feelings? Like, he didn’t know he was deeply in love with his friend until he learns of said friend’s ex-boyfriend who’s now apparently back in his life?”

Yuta stares at Doyoung, amused. “And I assume we’re now talking about Jaehyun and not movies anymore?”

Doyoung grimaces, “It’s stupid, right?” Yuta nods, “Yeah, a bit.”

Doyoung groans and puts his face in his hands. “Why am I telling you all this!”

“You know, I _have_ been wondering the same thing ever since we got here,” Yuta teases, sitting up straight again. Doyoung shoots him a look, but he just smiles.

“Just… one little thing,” Yuta says, pointing up a finger. “That story about how I had a crush on you this whole time since we met in class?”

“…Yeah?” Doyoung tentatively asks. His hand shoots to his mouth as he seems to realize something. “Oh my _god_ , don’t tell me you actually—?”

Yuta _pfft_ s. “As if!”

Doyoung lowers his hand back down, embarrassed.

“No… It’s just… I was kind of _dating_ someone up until the start of junior year,” Yuta explains with a laugh.

“Oh…” Doyoung breathes out. “ _Oh!_ ” he suddenly exclaims as it dawns on him. “And Jaehyun… knows?”

Yuta presses his lips together and nods.

“Oh my god, so… he knows I lied? Why are you just saying this now?” Doyoung stands up from the bench.

“Well, you were going on and on about Jaehyun and the narrative in your head and…” Yuta gestures, looking up at him. “ _But_ it’s not that big of a deal. Maybe he doesn’t even remember. We don’t exactly have heart-to-heart convos about our dating lives, you know? I just took him— _my ex_ —once at our Christmas party.”

Doyoung sits back down. “This is so fucking embarrassing.”

“Will you _relax_? I don’t think Jaehyun will even realize that. I’m telling you, I’ve edited his features a lot of times and the guy can’t even analyze his own stories for plot holes.”

Just then, Yuta hears a _ding_ from his pocket. He takes out his phone and opens a message from Taeil.

TAEIL

Johnny wants to know if you want to have dinner with us?

YUTA

by any chance

is he paying?

TAEIL

🙄

…yes.

Yuta pumps a fist in the air, forgetting for a moment that Doyoung is still sitting next to him. “Sorry! But are we done here? I just scored a free dinner from my roommate’s boyfriend.”

“Oh, uhm. Yeah.” Doyoung stands up again, dusting the back of his jeans. “I’m sorry to drag you into this, Yuta. But thanks for… listening, I guess.”

Yuta sighs, a bit dramatically. “You’re welcome, _I guess_. You know I really hate lying, but, well…”

Doyoung scoffs. “This literally all started because you lied for free food.”

Yuta stands up too, “If we’re _debating_ where this all started, I’d say it’s all your cousin’s fault.”

“What does Hyuck have to do with any of this?”

“Well, he was totally judging me at Pandora’s that day, coming in single.” Doyoung laughs, but Yuta’s not done. “And if he hadn’t shown up yesterday, Jaehyun would never have known about any of this,” he gestures between the two of them.

“Oh my god, you’re _right_ ,” Doyoung muses.

Another message comes in on Yuta’s phone: Taeil texting him that he and Johnny already have a table at… for fuck’s sake, _Kitchen Beat._

TAEIL

They have a special new menu, so wipe that judgy nose scrunch off your face.

You don’t look as cute as you think when you do that.

Yuta looks around, expecting Taeil to be just standing around the corner, laughing at him but he’s not. Taeil just _annoyingly_ knows him too well. Sure enough— “Everything okay? Your nose is all… wrinkled,” he hears Doyoung say.

“Ha-ha, it’s nothing,” Yuta deadpans. “I’m headed to Kitchen Beat, you?”

“Same direction,” Doyoung gestures ahead. They start walking out of the Square in silence, and you’d think it would be awkward considering all the things that Doyoung has just opened up to him about ( _seriously, Yuta did not sign up for that much angst—and on a school night, no less_ ) but it’s surprisingly not.

“Wait,” Yuta suddenly says once they’re out on the streets again. “I didn’t get to ask but, what exactly do you want me to do?”

Doyoung inclines his head, thinking. “I guess, just _not_ deny anything?”

Yuta considers this, then nods. “I can live with that. Just, if you want to say anything about how I am in bed, run it by me first?”

Doyoung’s mouth drops open, “I am _not_ even remotely considering saying anything about _that_!” he exclaims as he hits Yuta’s shoulder.

“Ow, I’m fucking kidding!”

Doyoung gives him a sharp look, but his mouth is slowly pulling up in the corners as he does so. “You think you’re so funny.”

“It’s what made you fall for me.”

Doyoung just smirks at him. “And eventually, it’s what made me break up with you. I just woke up one day and realized you have a shit sense of humor.”

Yuta stops walking. “Hold on, _you_ broke up with me?”

“Well, I can’t have Jaehyun thinking I might still have feelings for you! The one who initiates the breakup is always the first one to move on,” Doyoung explains matter-of-factly, walking ahead.

“ _Man,_ I am so getting the short end of this deal,” Yuta whines as he catches up but Doyoung just raises an eyebrow at him, “Just like me when I paid _full_ for a two-for-one special.”

“Are you going to hold that over my head forever?” Yuta pouts. “In my narrative, _that_ ’s why I broke up with you.”

Doyoung snorts.

“So, when did we break up again?” Yuta asks as they turn a corner.

“Hmm, just before we went back to campus, I guess?”

“Was it mostly just a long-distance, online thing over the summer? Because that’s a little boring.”

Doyoung looks at him, smirking. “Now who’s getting a little too invested in the story?”

“Didn’t you want to ‘get our stories straight’?” Yuta asks, miming air-quotes right in front of Doyoung’s face. Doyoung swats his hands away and shrugs. “I didn’t really think of the _details_ , just the general timeline of the whole…” he gestures vaguely, “relationship.”

Yuta tut-tuts at him. “Well, what did you do last summer?”

“Stayed at home, did advanced reading,” Doyoung says, shrugging.

“You did school stuff during the summer?” Yuta mock-yawns.

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “I didn’t really have anything else to do.”

“Now you do. You just spent the summer at my family’s beach house outside the city,” Yuta says, snapping his fingers.

Doyoung looks at his fingers, laughing. “What was that for?”

“That was me changing the past.” Yuta smirks, “It’s believable too, since I told Jaehyun and the rest of the club that it’s where I’ll be the whole summer.” He puts an arm around Doyoung. For a moment, he’s worried that Doyoung will flinch and pull away like earlier, but Doyoung just lets him. “Imagine: you, me, and a wide stretch of sand and blue ocean. If _that_ image doesn’t make Jaehyun’s skin crawl with jealousy and finally realize his feelings…” Yuta stops as he sees Doyoung looking at him intently. “Or whatever,” he finishes lamely then pulls his arm away.

“It’s a nice image. Thank you for making my summer interesting.” Doyoung stops walking and turns to Yuta, smiling wide. “Anyway,” he steps back, gesturing behind Yuta. “Here you are.” Yuta turns around and sees the big _Kitchen Beat_ sign propped up on a large wooden frame in front of the open restaurant. He didn’t even realize they’re already here.

He turns back to Doyoung. “Well, good luck with Jaehyun.”

Doyoung gives him a shaky smile. “Thanks. For that, and well, for… being cool with all this.”

Yuta grins, “I’m sure I’ll think of a way you can repay me.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “Bye, Yuta.”

 _“Wait_ ,” Yuta calls before he can even turn away. Doyoung looks at him curiously. “Yeah?”

Yuta doesn’t really know why he did that, so he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “Quick review. Are there any other details we should work out?”

Doyoung shrugs, laughing. “Well, you already know my favorite color and I know your favorite campus spot, so I think we’re golden.”

Yuta laughs at that. “Ooh, ooh, how about pet names? Baby? Sugar pie? Honey bunch?”

Doyoung wrinkles his nose, “Ew.” He puts his hands in his pockets then smirks at Yuta, “I think I’ll stick with _takoyaki boy_.” He gives Yuta one last smile, then finally walks away, waving a hand over his shoulder.

Yuta watches him turn the next corner with a smile, shaking his head.

Just what had he gotten himself into this time?

**Author's Note:**

> hi again~ i hope you enjoyed this little prequel of sorts. as i’ve said in the notes at the beginning, i have turned this fic into a twt au now. so this is where it ends... (sorry TT) but their story continues, 5 years later, in the au. thank u for reading!
> 
> here’s the [link to the au](https://twitter.com/do0_yuu/status/1353031422907305984?s=21) again :)


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